Weather strip mounting for closures



Patented Dec. 8, 1953 UNITED STATES `TENT OFFICE WEATHER STRIP MOUNTINGFoa oLosUREs Application July 9,

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel mounting unit of extremely simpleconstruction primarily adapted ior mounting a piece of weather strippingdetaohahly against an inner or outer side of a closure such as a doorand so that the bottom edge portion of the weather stripping willprotrude downwardly from the bottom edge of the door to engage a flooror sill surface disposed therebeneath to form an air seal between saidsurface and the bottom edge of the closure.

More particuiarly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide anovel weather strip mounting by means or" which the weather strip may beadvanced downwardly or retracted upwardly without being removed from themounting and without detaching the mounting from the closure and therebyafford a means for eiectively maintaining the weather strip with itsbottoni edge properly positioned to engage a surface disposed beneath aclosure and to seal thespaoe between said surface and the closure.

Still a :further object of the invention is to provide a weather stripmounting composed oi a minimum of parts capable of being quickly appliedto or removed. from a closure and which will not detract from theappearance of the closure.

Another obiect of the invention is to provide weather strip mountingwhich will resiliently engage the weather strip supported therebyadjacent an upper edge thereof to minimize darnage to the weather stripin moving across, into and out oi engagement with a surface disposedbeneath the closure, and for yieldably posi tioning the weather striprelatively to the clou sure.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more iully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, lustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a iront elevational view showing the invention in an appliedposition;

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view thereof, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2-2 oi Figure l;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross sectional View thereof taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 3-i oi Figure l, and

Figure 1i is a fragmentary sectional View partly in elevation on anenlarged scale, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by theline i-- Figure 3.

Referring more specioaliy to the drawing, the weather strip mountingconstituting the inveni) il tion is designated generally 5 and isillustrated in the drawing in an applied position on one side of thebottom bar or rail of a closure. The lower portion only of the closureis illustrated and designated generally 6 having the bottom bar l to oneside oi which the weather strip mount ing Ei is detachably fastened, Itwill become apparent as the description proceeds that the mounting unit5 may be mounted on either the inner or outer side of the closure.

The mounting unit 5 includes a pair of corresponding inwardly facingchannel members S and e which are adapted to be disposed adjacent theends of the bottom bar or rail l of the closure E and each of which hasan inner nange or side iii which engages against a side of the bar orrail 'l and is secured thereto by suitable fastenings H which extendtherethrough and are an chored in the bar l. The inner flanges lil arepreferably wider than the outer flanges l2 oi the channels 3 and s, sothat the iastenings il may be disposed beyond the inner edges of theouter flanges l2 to enable a tool to be readily applied thereto foranchoring the fastenings in the bar 'l or for removing the iasteningstherefrom, as shown in Figure 2.

The weather strip mounting also includes an elongated metal plate orstrip, designated genorally i3, having a portion lli, disposed inter-inediate oi its longitudinal edges, which extends longitutinally of the barl and the ends oi which intermediate portion lei engage in the channels8 and and normally bear against the inner sides of the outer flanges l2thereof, as best illustrated in Figure 2. The strip or plate iiiincludes upper longitudinal edge portion l5 which is in' wardly orsetrelatively to said intermediate lpor-- tion le. and which is disposedagainst the cioi portion i and secured thereto by a plurality ofastenings it. The upper edge portion iii is diposed substantially abovethe level of the upper ends of the channel members i and 9 and tho stripi3 includes a portion extending iron-1 to-end thereof which is disposedat an oblique angle to the portions ill and i5 and which extends betweenand is formed integral with ad jacent longitudinal edges of saidportions is l5. `Said last mentioned, oblique portion il is inclinedupwardly and inwardly from the upper edge of the intermediate portioniii relatively to the adjacent side of the closure t. rEhe otherlongitudinal edge portion I8 of the strip i3 extends upwardly andinwardly from the other bot.. tom longitudinal edge of said interni.iiate por tion i6 and is disposed normally at a slight angle to theintermediate portion It and extends upwardly and inwardly toward theadjacent side of the bottom bar or rail 1. Said last mentioned upturnedportion i8 likewise extends from end-to-end of the strip i3 and has itsend portions disposed within the channel members 8 and 9 between theflanges ID and l2 thereof. The upper longitudinal edge i9 of the portioni8 is preferably disposed at a level substantially above the lower endsof the channel members 8 and .9 and beneath the upper ends of saidchannel members and said portion I8 is spring biased by the resiliencyof the strip i3 away from said intermediate portion lll and toward theclosure so that the end portions of the upper edge Iii thereof wouldnormally abut against the inner flanges i of the channels 8 and Si. Arelatively long fastening 2e extends through said intermediate portion|41, intermediate of the ends thereof and is `anchored in the bar l, thefastening 2G being disposed above the level .of said lupper edge le. Thechannels S and e, the strip is and the fastenings attaching saidchannels and strip to the closure portion constitute all of the elementsforming the weather strip mounting A weather strip 2| which may beformed of felt, sponge rubber or other suitable material which ispreferably relatively flexible, is mounted in and supported by themounting 5. The strip 2| is of a length to extend sulzrstantiallt7 fromend-to-end of the mounting so that the end portions thereof will bedisposed in the channels 3 and 9. The strip 2| is of a width to extendfrom below the bottom edge of the mounting 5 to above the upper edge I9of the portion i8. .Said resilient portion I8 is displaced away from theinner flanges lli and the bar l' by the weather strip 2| so :that theportion i8 is thus tensioned and spring biased toward the bar l, so thatthe upper edge |53 thereof will press into the weather strip 2 I, nearto but spaced .from its upper edge for clamping the end portions thereofbetween said edge I9 and the flanges iii, as illustrated in Figures `2and 3. It will thus be noted that the weather strip 2| is clamped in themounting unit 5 substantially above its bottom edge and substantially.above the bottom edge of said unit 5 and the closure 6. 'The bottomedge portion of the weather strip 2| extends downwardly from the openbottom of the mounting unit E a desired distance so that said bottomedge of the weather strip 2| will engage a sill surface or door surface22 over which the closure 6 is disposed when in a closed position toseal the space existing between the bottom edge of the closure and saidsurface 22, as best illustrated in Figure 3.

By clamping the strip 2| in the unit 5 adjacent its upper edge, saidstrip may readily flex parallel to its longitudinal axis to preventdamage thereto in moving across, into and out of engagement with thesurface 22. It will also be apparent that any .suitable tool may beinserted upwardly into the unit 5 between its resilient clamping portionI8 and the strip 2| for displacing said portion i8 away from the stripto enable the strip to be adjusted upwardly or downwardly in themounting unit 5 without dismantling any of the parts. As soon aspressure is released from said clamping portion IB it will be springbiased by its resiliency toward the strip 2| for re-clamping saidweather strip in its readjusted position. Cbviously, the weather strip2| may be wider than illustrated to extend to above the position of itsupper edge in Figure 3, and if desired, the fastening 2@ may be omittedor positioned closer to the level of the upper ends of the channels 8and 9 to accommodate wider weather strips 2|.

It will also be apparent that the mounting unit 5 may be quickly appliedto or removed from either side of the bottom bar or rail I of a closureand is so constructed that it will not detract from the appearance ofthe closure, yet possesses a maximum of functional utility in sealingthe space beneath a closure to prevent the passage of air therethrough.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as :my invention:

l. The combination with a closure and a weather 'strip for sealing aspace between a bot- -tom -edge of the closure and a surface disposedtherebeneath, of a weather strip mounting unit demountably andadjustably supporting said weather strip on one side of the closure andadjacent the bottom edge thereof, said mounting unit including inwardlyopening corresponding channel members secured to one side of the bottomportion of the closure and adjacent the opposite side edges thereof, anelongated strip of metal including an intermediate strip portionextending from end-to-end of said strip and spaced from longitudinaledges thereof, said intermediate strip portion having the end portionsthereof engaging in said inwardly opening channel members, said striphaving an upper longitudinal edge portion extending upwardly from saidintermediate strip portion and from said channel members, means forsecuring said upper edge portion of the strip to the closure forsupporting said intermediate strip portion in engagement with thechannel members, and said strip including a turned back bottom edgeportion extending upwardly from the lower edge of said intermediatestrip portion and having the end portions thereof disposed in saidchannel members, said last mentioned portion forming a clamping stripand being disposed on the inner side of said intermediate strip portionand being spring biased toward the closure, said weather strip beingdisposed with its ends engaging in said channel members and between saidclosure and said clamping portion, the upper free edge of said clampmgportion yieldably bearing against a longitudinal portion of the weatherstrip for clamping the weather strip between said clamping strip and theinner flanges of said channel members for supporting the bottom edge ofthe weather strip at a desired level below the bottom edge of theclosure and in engagement with the surface disposed beneath the closurefor sealing the space between said surface and the closure.

2. A weather strip mounting as in claim 1, the upper weather stripengaging edge of said clamping portion being disposed substantiallyabove the level of the bottom edge of Ythe closure to facilitate flexingof the weather strip when moved with the closure and when in frictionalengagement with the surface disposed beneath the closure.

3. A weather strip mounting unit as in claim 1, said metal strip vhavingan upwardly and inwardly inclined portion extending from the upper edgeof said intermediate strip portion and from the upper ends of saidchannel members toward and into engagement with the side of the closureon which the mounting unit is disposed.

4. The combination with a closure and a flexible weather strip forsealing the space between the bottom edge of the closure and a surfacedisposed therebeneath, of a weather strip mounting unit comprising anelongated clamping member including an outer base portion spacedoutwardly from one side of said closure and extending transversely ofsaid side `and an inner clamping portion extending upwardly and inwardlyfrom a bottom edge of said Ibase portion and extending from end-to-endthereof, said inner `clamping portion being spring ybiased away from theouter base lportion toward the adjacent side of the closure, saidweather strip being disposed between said clamping portion and theadjacent side of the closure and being enga-ged and clamped by the upperedge of said clamping portion for supporting the weather strip ybetweenthe closure and clamping lportion and with the bottom edge of theweather strip extending downwardly from the closure and clamping memberto engage the surface disposed therebeneath, and means detachablyfastening said clamping member to the closure.

5. A weather strip mounting as in claim 4, said means for attaching theclamping member to the closure including astenings engaging the clampingmember and closure above the upper edge of said inner clamping portion.

6. A weather strip mounting as in claim 4, said means for attaching theclamping member to the closure including inwardly opening channelmembers secured to the closure adjacent the side edges thereof and inwhich the end portions of the base portion and clamping portion of saidclamping member are disposed, said inner clamping portion beingyieldably movable out of engagement with the weather strip and towardthe ibase 4portion for adjusting the Weather strip upwardly ordownwardly in the mounting unit, and said clamping portion being springbiased by its resiliency back into clamping engagement with the weatherstrip when released to retain the weather strip in its adjustedposition.

RAPHAEL J. FOL'SE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS HarnlyOct. 16, 1928

